The Black Company


The Black Company is a series of dark fantasy books written by American author Glen Cook. The series combines elements of epic fantasy and dark fantasy as it follows an elite mercenary unit, The Black Company, through roughly forty years of its approximately four-hundred-year history.
Green Ronin Publishing published The Black Company role-playing game in 2004.

Novels

Main chronology

''The Books of the North''

  1. The Black Company: May 1984
  2. Port of Shadows: September 2018
  3. Shadows Linger: October 1984
  4. The White Rose: April 1985

    ''The Books of the South ''

  5. Shadow Games: June 1989
  6. Dreams of Steel: April 1990

    ''The Books of Glittering Stone''

  7. Bleak Seasons: April 1996
  8. She Is the Darkness: September 1997
  9. Water Sleeps: March 1999
  10. Soldiers Live: July 2000

    Forthcoming novels

  1. The Silver Spike: September 1989

    Omnibus editions

Science Fiction Book Club hardcover omnibus editions

  1. Annals of the Black Company
  2. The Black Company Goes South
  3. The Black Company: Glittering Stone I
  4. The Black Company: Glittering Stone II

    Tor Fiction softcover omnibus editions

  5. The Chronicles of The Black Company
  6. The Books of the South
  7. The Return of The Black Company
  8. The Many Deaths of The Black Company

    Short stories

  9. "Raker"—appeared in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. This was a pre-publication excerpt of chapter three from The Black Company, with slight editing differences to make it stand alone as a short story.
  10. "Tides Elba"—appeared in Swords & Dark Magic, edited by Jonathan Strahan and Lou Anders, published by Eos
  11. "Smelling Danger: A Black Company Story"—appeared in the Subterranean Press anthology, Tales of Dark Fantasy 2, edited by William Schafer.
  12. "Shaggy Dog Bridge"—appeared in Fearsome Journeys: The New Solaris Book of Fantasy, edited by Jonathan Strahan, published by Solaris
  13. "Bone Candy"—appeared in Shattered Shields, edited by Jennifer Brozek and Bryan Thomas Schmidt, published by Baen
  14. "Bone Eaters"—appeared in Operation Arcana, edited by John Joseph Adams, published by Baen
"Tides Elba", "Smelling Danger", and "Bone Candy" were collected and reworked into Port of Shadows.

Plot summary

The series follows an elite mercenary unit, The Black Company, last of the Free Companies of Khatovar, through roughly forty years of its approximately four-hundred-year history. Cook mixes fantasy with military fiction in gritty, down-to-earth portrayals of the Company's chief personalities and its struggles.
The main chronology spans nine novels, which can be grouped into three sections: The Books of the North recount the Company's dealings with the Empire of Lady; The Books of the South follow the Company on its journey back to its beginnings in Khatovar; Glittering Stone sees the Company achieve victory over its employer's enemies, and move on to its destiny.
Additionally, there is one spin-off novel, The Silver Spike, which follows events concerning former members of the Company and one of its adversaries.

In other media

Television

A TV show based on the Black Company is under development, with David S. Goyer as executive producer. Eliza Dushku will also produce and play the Lady.